Community colleges have also seen a brisk increase in summer enrollment. “We have a very robust summer program. Almost everything that is offered in the fall and spring is also offered in the summer, but with fewer sections, or classes,” said Debbie Bellucci, dean of Continuing Education and Online Learning at Springfield Technical Community College. “We try to add a few new courses every summer, whether they are online or totally new topics, and this summer we have instituted a format change. In the past, we ran two five-week sessions, but this summer we have some 10-week, on-site courses for ...

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Years ago, students attended classes during the fall and spring and took the summer off. But it's very different now.

We have a very robust summer program. Almost everything that is offered in the fall and spring is also offered in the summer, but with fewer sections, or classes.

Our offerings have grown significantly over the last five years.

But summer school isn't for everyone. It's very intense.

We're hoping the free courses will give them a jump start.

We have room for 60 students who will each receive a $1,000 stipend as an incentive to participate and complete the courses.

Our second class will graduate May 17, the third cohort is working toward graduation, and a fourth group has been accepted for next year.

The program has become very competitive; it's intense, but the people in it are adult learners who don't want to wait four years to get back into the work pool.

Classes are held on Saturdays for 20 months, and people find the program very accessible.

We're a small, regional liberal-arts college, and since the traditional market of students is getting smaller, we had to look at other opportunities to serve students, including the adult market. And we're not alone.

People can earn a bachelor of arts in social science or in general business through a combination of online and Saturday classes in 20 months.

Science and math are the most sought-after classes.

We experimented with a three-week term, but it didn't work well.

Some are aimed at high-school students, and some are college-level courses.